THE Metropolitan Police have spent almost £6 million on guarding the Ecuadorian Embassy since Julian Assange holed up there in 2012.

The WikiLeaks founder took refuge in the London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations and has vowed to remain there.

According to figures obtained by LBC Radio under the Freedom of Information Act, the daily cost of policing the South Kensington building comes in at over £9,000.

The figures show some £5.9 million has been spent by Scotland Yard, which increases to £6 million if the 25 days since the numbers were compiled are added.

Police have to keep guard outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in order to arrest Mr Assange if he steps foot on British soil.

He denies sexually assaulting two women in Stockholm in 2010 and claims the accusations form part of a smear campaign against him.

If arrested he would be extradited to Sweden to answer the allegations, but the 42-year-old believes the Scandinavian country would then send him over to the US after he released thousands of highly-confidential documents on his WikiLeaks site.

Yesterday morning three officers were standing guard outside the embassy, where the Ecuadorean Government has granted him political asylum.

Baroness Jenny Jones, deputy chair of the Police and Crime Committee at the London Assembly, condemned the huge cost as "ludicrous."

She said : "It is absolute madness. I have been asking the Met questions about this because clearly at the moment the cost is falling on the London taxpayers as a net police cost.

"I have been asking if the Government is going to pay. The Met is apparently trying to claim back some of the money, but of course it is still the taxpayer who is paying for it.

"It is complete madness when we are struggling to keep police officers on the beat."

She said that perhaps the Metropolitan Police should just "walk away" from the situation.

"I do understand the legal ramifications of the case, but the fact is this is a complete nonsense.

"He could stay there for years. It is a terrible thought, I guess.

"What he did with WikiLeaks was extremely valuable but at the same time evading justice just is not right and either somebody else has to pay - that is, the Swedish authorities - or we just have to back off and stop guarding the embassy.

"It is ludicrous."

She added that if he left the embassy he could be later held at some other location.

A police spokesman said: "The estimated total cost of policing the Ecuadorian embassy between June 2012 and the end of March 2014 is £5.9 million, of which £4.9 million is opportunity costs - police officer pay costs that would be incurred in normal duties - and £1 million additional costs.

"The total costs provided are an estimate based on averages as actual salary and overtime costs will vary daily."

John O'Connell, Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Hard-pressed families will be furious that the bill for guarding the Embassy is so enormous.

"Perhaps the Met doesn't have a choice but taxpayers would much rather see police out on the beat and preventing crime in local communities, not stood outside a plush embassy in Knightsbridge."